Sex 4 + Moreplay vs Stereomour

[Big Bamboo]

A few years ago I built a crack, then a sex 3.0 which I'm using near field on my computer desk. I have considered upgrading to the Stereomour, although I would miss the headphone jack (yes, I know there are workarounds).

So now that the sex 4 + Moreplay combo is available, I'm curious to know how it would perform compared to the Stereomour. I don't have a ton of room on my desktop so fitting in another amp would be tight.

I'm trying to consider the pros and cons of each.

I'm itching for an excuse to build another kit.

BTW, I am so delighted to see Bottlehead living on with the new ownership.

Thank You for carrying the torch forward.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

The Stereomour gives you a lot of performance due to the directly heated 2A3s being so dang linear, and it has a ridiculous amount of flexibility with upgrades. Its downsides are primarily related to cost, size, and cost of tube rolling.

The SEX 4 gives about the same power as the Stereomour with a much smaller footprint, lower noise floor, and more predictable performance with loudspeakers (especially bass reflex boxes). 6FM7 tubes remain pretty affordable and still somewhat abundant, even though I tried to buy them all before the product launch

If you are using the SEX 4 as a desktop amp being fed by a USB DAC only, a preamp would appear to be optional.

 

[Jameson]

All the things Paul said are true, obviously, but he left out some other benefits, like: a SEX 4 is way more fun to build than no kit at all, and you’d be one of the first people in the world to own this amp.

Plus, Paul has most of the world’s supply of 6FM7s squirreled away in a secret bunker. He can’t be allowed to own them all, right?

 

[Natural Sound]

I own a few DAC's and wish to play the devils advocate for a moment if I may. If you are using software to control the output of your DAC you are technically and audibly losing some fidelity. Running your DAC in "bit perfect" mode will sound better than "software mode." The difference depends a lot on the source content, your audio chain and your ears. 24 bit source material is more noticeable on my system.

So in my case I'd spring for the Moreplay if and when I get the S4. It's a strong possibility that I will too. I'm retiring in 2 weeks and this would be a fun project for me.

Sorry, I didn't mean to go down a rabbit hole. I was attempting to share my experiences of squeezing as much performance out of a system as possible.

 

[Big Bamboo]

I think if I’d get the sex4 I’d go ahead and do the moreplay as well. That way I’d have the pleasure of building two kits.
Which begs the question: with the moreplay/sex4 combo, would I be likely to notice an improvement over my sex 3. I don’t necessarily need more volume.

 

[Doc B]

Yes, MP and SEX4 is a more lively sound, more dynamic. That improved dynamic pace adds a little more excitement factor to the music.

 

[ipetruk]

I was wondering about the same, sorry for hijacking the thread.

I have 2 Pipettes, 1 Sublime, 1 Subette. They are in a relatively small to medium living room.

I want the replace the power amp with the Bottlehead kit.

The choices are with my concerns for each:

* Kaiju. I've heard to might be too powerful. But I can put a passive pre to tone it down permanently and the control the rest of the volume digitally from the DAC. And 300b are expensive
* Stereomour. Does it have enough power? Noise floor with Pipettes? I love the idea of 2A3! It has a volume knob and the price is great.
" SEX 4 with or without Moreplay. It is also 4W, but the tubes are not as sexy as 2A3. Also no official description explains why the heck one needs Moreplay with it. The comparison for this setup with Stereomour would be interesting to hear.

I don't intend to change the speaker setup. I love it. The reason I want a Bottlehead power amp is that I suspect the power spike in my Billie 11 during turn off burns the digital components in Sublime. Basically Sublime does not live for longer than a week with this power amp. Thankfully I can order 100% of Sublime parts of Amazon... but I would prefer not to do it every week If there is a way to mod it to protect it with some kind of capacitor or something, I'd love to try that

Also I already have Crack and Mainline, so the fact SEX 4 can also do headphones is not critical. It's nice, it would be cool to try, but if benefits of Kaiju or Stereomour are more prominent for my speaker setup, I'd go with those

 

[ipetruk]

Ah, found in a other thread there is no volume pot on SEX 4. That's why Moreplay

 

[ipetruk]

I will probably get Stereomour II because it is integrated to combine with phono and there exists truly luxury 2A3. I am totally behind the idea of affordability 6FM7, but the lack of tube popularity is a pro and con. It is affordable, but Emissions Labs, Takatsuki, and KR don't make those if I ever want to try something as crazy. It is great that you offer both amps.

Kaiju is good, but not integrated and 300b makes it another extreme when it some to the tube price. I don't plan to change Pipettes in coming future

 

[peter22]

The Stereomour II really hits a sweet spot if you want an integrated solution with a proper phono stage and the option to enjoy high-end 2A3 tubes later on. The 2A3 ecosystem is one of its biggest advantages—whether you stick with something affordable or eventually get curious about Emission Labs, Takatsuki, or KR, you’ve got a lot of room to explore without changing the amp.

 

[ipetruk]

The Stereomour II really hits a sweet spot if you want an integrated solution with a proper phono stage and the option to enjoy high-end 2A3 tubes later on. The 2A3 ecosystem is one of its biggest advantages—whether you stick with something affordable or eventually get curious about Emission Labs, Takatsuki, or KR, you’ve got a lot of room to explore without changing the amp.

AI says 3.5 W is not enough to drive Pipettes Altair driver and recommends Kaiju instead.

Yet Doc says this is exactly his setup in a room larger than mine.

It trust the Doc. I have also noticed harmonic weight seems to compensate a bit for raw watts. So I ordered Stereomour II, I hope it works.

Also I wonder if JJ 2A3-40 can make it the amp louder, if I feel it lacking

 

[Paul Joppa]

Kaiju has more power because it has more voltage, runs more current through the tube, and has a lower primary impedance. You could put a 2A3 (with 5v heater, such as the WE275) into Kaiju and get 8 watts (until it overheated). If you put a 2.5v 300B in Stereomour, you still can't get more than 3.5 watts.

The now-discontinued MonAmour used the Kaiju output iron and Kaiju voltages, and got 6 watts.